IBM wins $150-m Bharti Airtel contract (The Hindu Business Line 21th Jan 2008) In a bid to boost its triple play platform, Bharti Airtel has awarded a $150-million contract to IBM to provide IT solutions and services to support broadcasting services such as DTH and IPTV.
Bharti had already outsourced its IT requirement for the telecom business and the new deal is aimed at providing a one-stop experience spanning mobile, PC and television.
IBM will bring in its global expertise in areas including the telemedia business, distribution, enterprise segments and business resilience. The new agreement is estimated at $150 million.
On the new agreement, Dr Jai Menon, Director-IT & Innovation, Bharti Airtel, said, “We intend to continue to build upon the success of the principle of utility computing, on which we had structured our partnership with IBM.” More
Banks gearing up to design special loans for Nano(The Hindu Business Line 21th Jan 2008)The ‘Nano’ phenomenon has opened up a new category of borrowers — somewhere between borrowers for two-wheeler loans and cars loans, say bankers reacting to the Tata car launch.
ICICI Bank is looking at offering personal loans along with a car loan for the Nano. “The Rs 1-lakh car has created a new segment of customers, who would typically fall into the middle-class or lower middle-class segment. The loan should, therefore, not only cover the capital cost but also the running cost of the vehicle as it will otherwise be difficult for customers to meet the monthly expenses arising out of the car,” Mr Ravi Narayanan, Group Business Head, Vehicle Loans, ICICI Bank. More
GMR Energy forgoes guarantees for gas supply, has rivals fuming (Live mint.com 21th Jan 2008)The fight for gas has intensified in Andhra Pradesh where the power plants of several private sector power companies were lying idle, with one of the companies, GMR Energy Ltd, changing its previous agreement with the state government in favour of the latter, in return for an assured, albeit temporary supply of the fuel.
GMR’s rival GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd (GVKPIL), which runs one of the power plants currently idle, has accused the local Congress government in Andhra Pradesh headed by Y. Rajsekhara Reddy of playing favourites. The gas is supplied by GAIL India Ltd, a Union government-run firm and decisions on gas supplies are effectively taken by the Centre. The Congress is the dominant party in the ruling United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre. More
Retail lending slows at ICICI Bank (Live mint.com 21th Jan 2008)Asset quality continues to deteriorate at ICICI Bank Ltd, with net non-performing assets (NPAs) rising to 1.47% of net customer assets at the end of December 2007, compared with 1.41% at end-September. But that’s a trend that was widely expected. The good news is that bad loans are not rising as rapidly as they did during previous quarters. Gross NPAs rose by Rs1,193 crore in the June quarter, by Rs646 crore in the September quarter and now by Rs557 crore in the December quarter.
Also as expected, the bank’s loan growth slowed down substantially last quarter, with advances growing by 24.7% year-over-year at 31 December 2007. At end-September, that growth was 33.3%. The deceleration in retail loan growth was dramatic, falling to 12% year-on-year at 31 December 2007, compared with 22% at 30 September 2007. More
Bharti had already outsourced its IT requirement for the telecom business and the new deal is aimed at providing a one-stop experience spanning mobile, PC and television.
IBM will bring in its global expertise in areas including the telemedia business, distribution, enterprise segments and business resilience. The new agreement is estimated at $150 million.
On the new agreement, Dr Jai Menon, Director-IT & Innovation, Bharti Airtel, said, “We intend to continue to build upon the success of the principle of utility computing, on which we had structured our partnership with IBM.” More
Banks gearing up to design special loans for Nano(The Hindu Business Line 21th Jan 2008)The ‘Nano’ phenomenon has opened up a new category of borrowers — somewhere between borrowers for two-wheeler loans and cars loans, say bankers reacting to the Tata car launch.
ICICI Bank is looking at offering personal loans along with a car loan for the Nano. “The Rs 1-lakh car has created a new segment of customers, who would typically fall into the middle-class or lower middle-class segment. The loan should, therefore, not only cover the capital cost but also the running cost of the vehicle as it will otherwise be difficult for customers to meet the monthly expenses arising out of the car,” Mr Ravi Narayanan, Group Business Head, Vehicle Loans, ICICI Bank. More
GMR Energy forgoes guarantees for gas supply, has rivals fuming (Live mint.com 21th Jan 2008)The fight for gas has intensified in Andhra Pradesh where the power plants of several private sector power companies were lying idle, with one of the companies, GMR Energy Ltd, changing its previous agreement with the state government in favour of the latter, in return for an assured, albeit temporary supply of the fuel.
GMR’s rival GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd (GVKPIL), which runs one of the power plants currently idle, has accused the local Congress government in Andhra Pradesh headed by Y. Rajsekhara Reddy of playing favourites. The gas is supplied by GAIL India Ltd, a Union government-run firm and decisions on gas supplies are effectively taken by the Centre. The Congress is the dominant party in the ruling United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre. More
Retail lending slows at ICICI Bank (Live mint.com 21th Jan 2008)Asset quality continues to deteriorate at ICICI Bank Ltd, with net non-performing assets (NPAs) rising to 1.47% of net customer assets at the end of December 2007, compared with 1.41% at end-September. But that’s a trend that was widely expected. The good news is that bad loans are not rising as rapidly as they did during previous quarters. Gross NPAs rose by Rs1,193 crore in the June quarter, by Rs646 crore in the September quarter and now by Rs557 crore in the December quarter.
Also as expected, the bank’s loan growth slowed down substantially last quarter, with advances growing by 24.7% year-over-year at 31 December 2007. At end-September, that growth was 33.3%. The deceleration in retail loan growth was dramatic, falling to 12% year-on-year at 31 December 2007, compared with 22% at 30 September 2007. More
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